Chico schools trustee Jann Reed running in state Senate race

CHICO — Jann Reed, a member of the Chico Unified School District board of trustees, said Wednesday she was joining the race for the open 4th District state Senate seat.

Reed, who will complete her second term on the school board in November, gave a couple of reasons for running for Senate.

She said the Legislature has failed to address important problems, such as the funding of public schools.

Also, she said she was disgusted by what she called political maneuvering by elected officials in their own self-interest.

She said she believes state Sen. Doug LaMalfa's resignation from the 4th District office was that sort of maneuver.

She said LaMalfa was trying to smooth the way for the election of his chosen successor, Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber, adding the game of politics shouldn't be played that way.

Legislators should work for the good of California, not for the benefit of their party or themselves, she said.

Reed, who is registered "Decline to State," called herself an independent thinker.

Her term on the CUSD board expires at the end of this year, and she announced some time ago that she would not be seeking re-election to that panel.

The deadline for filing for the primary special election in the 4th District was 5 p.m. on Wednesday.

Reed talked to the Enterprise-Record by phone as she was driving to the Butte County Elections Office to file her nomination papers Wednesday afternoon.

A spokeswoman for the California Secretary of State said on Monday her office will post on its website a list of "certified" candidates who have filed in the 4th District.

Up until Wednesday, three candidates, in addition to Reed had filed for the position: Nielsen; Assemblyman Dan Logue, R-Gerber; and Mickey Harrington, a retired labor leader from Magalia. Harrington is a Democrat.

In the phone interview, Reed said she believes strongly in public service.

"My whole life has been about doing meaningful work," she said. Her first job was as a medical lab technologist in Philadelphia. Later in California, she worked for the American Red Cross at a blood-banking center.

She also worked at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, where she met her husband, physician Lester Wong.

While her three children were young, she was "a stay-at-home mom," and when her youngest child was a high-school freshman, she ran for the school board.

Reed is a graduate of Chico State University.

She said first of all she wants to see the state government's financial predicament resolved. That could involve raising taxes but not necessarily, she said. She believes there's a lot of money in the state's coffers that is being misused.

She also said she wants to streamline state regulations to help businesses create more jobs.

Reed said she doesn't have much money for advertising her candidacy.

In the next two months, she said, she expects to spend a lot of time in her car, traveling around the 4th District to meet people and explain what she thinks needs to be done to create a good future for California.

Staff writer Larry Mitchell can be reached at 896-7759, lmitchell @chicoer.com, or followed on Twitter @LarryMitchell7.